Savannah monitor bowel movements question

how often does the average monitor go to the bathroom and how much do they usually pass at a time and of what consistency is it usually(more liquid, solid or in between)?

 

It depends on their food intake, if they usually eat a lot then expect a lot.
A healthy Sav eating, say 100 crickets day, then they should go daily or every other day.
Motions are usually fairly soft.
I couldn't really tell with the 2 I had as they always went in the large watertray and it was always messy.

 

Hey I sent you an email with alot of info. But he eats every other day and is right at 1 1/2 years to 2 years old he hasnt eaten crickets in almost a year he just seemed to naturally lose interest in them and we tried several times to feed them to him and he just didnt care that they were even there. That happened when he was sick a little during and we thought that he just didnt have a good appetite but he ended up just not wanting them anymore. hope you get the email and it will be informative.

 

Hi Bailey.
I'm not ignoring you and I did get the email.
The reason I have not responded is, that I am doing a lot pf research on the net and it's not easy to find.
Alot of the existing sites are now outdated with regard feeding etc. A lot of progress has been made in the last 10 years or so since those sites were written.
What I have found so far.
Rodents are too fatty and can cause "fatty liver disease". Cooked chicken and steak are designed for human consumption NOT SAV's and again can cause liver problems.
Sav's need WHOLE prey to get the most benefit from it, OK rodents are whole prey but far to fatty.
Try giving him "day old chicks", these can be bought frozen then thawed, these are just as nutritous as mice but far less fat. I would also start again and try getting him to eat more insects as this is their staple diet, try roaches, super morio worm, hornworms as well as crickets, in fact anything but waxworms as these are also very fatty.
You say he looks "bloated", I'm sure this is due to too many mice and the fat is building up.
You also said he "free roams" a lot and hides in dark places, This is not good, they need the proper temps to digest their food, which he is not getting.
You also state he weighs 5 pounds, he is getting overweight and will suffer heart, kidney and liver probs, you must cut down on his food intake.
Taking him outside is fine for the sun etc, also the showers and baths are good.
Having him out for an hour a day is OK but he should spend most of his time in tank under the proper heating. You really need to change his diet as well. If you dont make these changes you will end up with a very unhealthy and sick lizard.

 

Bruno is absolutely correct.

You should mix it up between chicks and rodents.
And always feed him some insects.

I also hear of alot of people that think they should feed monitors cooked eggs.
The only eggs that should be used are hard boiled and only as a treat.

 

I appreciate it guys. I just havent been able to find anything that hasnt been told to me or that i havent read already. He refuses the hardboiled eggs which took me by surprise because I see and hear about them loving the eggs for treats.

 

To me this sounds like a husbandry issue.If you can post some pictures of you set up,or give a detailed description of your set up.FLD is not caused by too much rodents in there diet,I feed and have Fed a rodent based diet for a few years now wit out any problems.What causes fatty liver disease is low temperatures and small enclosures.

Chick's are good and there are a lot of other things you can feed,but you want to stick to whole prey items


greg

 

Thank you. Where do I find baby chicks? He has been different ever since he got sick real bad with the pinworms about a year ago. we will correct these issues. when we move into our house in a month or two we are going to build him a great tank. I saw some on the sites I visited and my boyfriend is in the construction business. Until then, which should just be about a month maybe 2 at the longest, I have something to accomadate him and his size and needs that way he can get the heat source best needed. I talked to my pet store guy and he told me how to find some baby chicks. could you send me any links that you have found helpful that are up to date?

 

Thanks everyone. Panik is a very loving and believe it or not affectionate monitor. He really is like a part of our family as our other lizards and reptiles. I want to make sure I can return the love that he shows us and the care that he needs because he deserves it. He has been through alot and has been the best we could hope out of any reptile. I cant believe how sweet he is after hearing some peoples stories.

 

Currently I am in the process of changing his set up. He has been free roaming for about a month but as this is a bad thing when I get home in the morning from work I will be putting him in a temporary tank/box set up for a month till we get his new home built. I am going to start to alternate between mice and chicks just to vary his diet and to help with lower fat content. He doesnt eat insects anymoreHe is pretty big and has grown out of them. What else is there that we can feed him? That isnt too hard to come by?

 

If you would like you can look on my facebook account and I have tons of pics of Panik and all of our family of reptiles. Some we no longer have, one or two were rescues that have new homes and one died in february. There is one new that is not on there though, our new egyptian uromastyx. They seem like alot but It is all we spend our time doing, taking care and spending time with them. Some of the set ups are also different also. It is under the name Bailey Schirmer. I hope you like the pictures. I am trying to set up a Flickr account for them all.

 

There is your problem.You can not have a healthy monitor that free roams,they need an enclosure.Monitors are not like dogs and cats they are cold blooded and they need to thermoregulate in order to digest there food,with out access to a heat source you can feed crickets all day and it will still become fat.



greg

 

Your Sav needs to be in a tank not a box and a good size as well or you will have even further problems with him.
I note you now have an Egyptian Uromastyx, I hope you have the correct setup, if not I can almost guarantee it will be sick in 8 months.
None of these 40g breeders, they need huge tanks 6ft x 3ft floor space for an adult and nothing less than a 90 or 100g for a baby. No free roaming for these, they need heat and lots of it, basking spots of 130-140F and high UVB lamps and an all veg diet, no insects or rodents.
May I respectfully suggest you stop buying reptiles and get what you have into properly setup cages, with correct heating and lighting and diet.

 

thanks for your reply I am in the process of buying my new tank setups for the uromastyx, my water dragon , my two female bearded dragons, and building the enclosure for my monitor. I didnt buy the uromastyx it needed a home and I am giving it one. I am also in the process of trying to move which came about sooner now than expected. I do my research as well, and am doing the best I hear to do. I am just using the box, very large box, while he basks toget his heat then we go outside and he gets his shower and water and food. The box is just for sleep and heat. and only for a couple of weeks while we build his custom cage. As of now I will have my large tall wire cage for the water dragon in about a week. In two weeks I will have a bigger tank for the bearded dragons and for the uromastyx. It is all in the process. I have the heat for him. Thank you for your help on the uromastyx as well. Everyone else is in the proper set up I have checked and double checked. Any help from you is greatly appreciated.

 

I am not trying to be rude,but why would you take on any reptile with out the proper set up.You did not do the animals any favors,they would have been better off going to home with some with experience and all the proper equipment.

Now for your savanna YOU CAN NOT KEEP HIM IN A BOX!!!!!!!!!! There are so many needs that your monitors has that can not be met in you house,they need a proper enclosure and a fish tank is not going to work.



greg

 

I have the proper equipment I just rearranged a few tanks and have the uromastyx in a tank large enough for his size as he is a baby and I do have the furnishings and heat for him. I am not putting the monitor in a box or fish tank We are building an awesome custom enclosure for him. I am only letting him bask in a box and outside and all my daily attention goes to these reptiles now everyone is in a large enough enclosure except the monitor but he will in a week. Everything else about all the others I know diet and heat I have always gotten info for all my animals. They are very important to me. I just got some wrong info on the monitor diet and the whole free roam idea. I am trying to fix it asap. I am really trying here. I spent the past few hours trying to fix what I can till my other tanks come in.

 

Ya there are alot of people who ignorantly think a monitor can just free roam(not accusing you).

Like for instance Kaffir2, who is a peverted old, ignorant man who only lives to make youtube vids of his poor savs and get hits on youtube.
Heh sorry for venting about him

 

Last night when my boyfriend got home he helped and we finished rearranging a few of the tanks and we got panik back in our 150g that he was in before just until his new enclosure is done being built, got the uromastyx in a 75 and the 2 female beardies in a 40. Now all I am waiting on is my 5' wire cage for my water dragon that was recomended by the guy at the pet store that we always go through and seems to know quite a bit about reptiles as he has raised them alot. I hope this is better. I really do care for my babies. It really is all we do is take care of them and give them all our attention all day everyday and I really do want to do what is best for them. That is the only reason we are buying a 4 bedroom house is for them. I cant have children so all the space in the house is for them to all have what they want and need. After we get all the supplies we are going to build all of them custom enclosures as I said before my boyfriend is in the construction business and I also am very handy and artsy and crafty and love to do these things. I have a love for all our reptiles like they are my children. They do mean the world to me. I am going to spoil them as much as I can. Any and all advice is appreciated. If there are any informative links that anyone has on any reptile sites I would love to read them all. Any extra advice that you think may be useful I will gladly accept.

 

Here is my idea. You buy 2 chicken breasts, remove the fat, and run them through a meat grinder or 2 oz at a time works in the blender. You add the white part of two eggs, discard the fatty yolk which leaves you with pure albumin as your pure protein source. You add 1 tea psyllum husks to 1/2c hot water and steep for 10 minutes, strain, and add to mixture for a fiber source, even toss in a crushed egg shell for calcium. Place this in the oven in a bread loaf pan. Cook until internal temp reaches soft boiled level for eggs, then you remove and ice the pan.

cut into bars and use as hand held treats with training, dip in some fresh vitamin mix/dusting powder if possible. These only last a few hours out of the refrigerator so keep them cool in the frige once they are done. I give for small snack meals, course, my guy is 5 ft long nose to tail and likes only a little breakfast each morning. Variety in foods is key for them. In the Savannah rain forests they are mostly bugs. My guy likes snails the most, and outgrew tiny crickets. His colors come out best when he eats fertilized and incubated quail eggs in their pre-hatch stage. The Sav's colors then become light and the diamonds stand out, a mustard yellow skin, amazing, no more shedding problems - all because of those eggs - if you know why please email me.

 

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